2003 February

Feb 11 2003
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Sober up before judgement

Posted by | crime | No Comments

State Can Make Inmate Sane Enough to Execute “In 1986, the United States Supreme Court held in an opinion by Justice Thurgood Marshall, that the execution of the insane was barred by the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. ” What were the Supreme Court thinking here? Surely the issue with insanity is that it diminishes reponsibility, i.e. some lunatics aren’t responsible for their own actions, and therefore get treatment. To say that not being of sound mind makes the process of execution cruel means that the sedatives that are used prior to lethal injections are potentially unconstitutional.

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Feb 11 2003
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European imperialism

Posted by | politics | No Comments

As many people are pointing out, the US has hardly been imperialist considering its power. If you really want to look at the seedy side of European history, take a look at Hong Kong. Its very existence came about because the British went to war against China who wanted to stop British drug trafficking. Opium War: Britain Stole Hong Kong From China

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Feb 11 2003
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X-ray vision without X-ray’s

Posted by | technology | No Comments

A new imaging technology gives X-ray vision without radiation. Presumably a device based on this technology could provide full body X-rays of people at airports, something much more reassuring than a metal detector. EE Times UK – ESA makes breakthrough in terahertz imaging technology

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Feb 10 2003
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The massive need for micro payments

Posted by | technology | No Comments

Nick Denton: Please please please will somebody, anybody, develop a usable micropayments system for the web. Hear Hear! If you had told me 5 years ago that we would still not have a proper Internet micropayments system, I would have assumed that the web must have failed to take off. So who should provide micropayments now that the only likely candidate, Paypal, has been absorbed by a classified ads company? Perhaps the retail banks? Hell no – can you believe that these guys actually have services that allow you to create a paper check online and have it mailed to a creditor. This is as mad as having little people inside ATMs. Retail banks move a glacial speed in terms of technology. What we need are the real micropayments masters, the phone companies. Pick up your phone and dial, and money drains out of your bank account, little by little,…

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Feb 07 2003
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The betrayal of the Kurds

Posted by | politics | No Comments

Saddam Hussein is a monster, he did gas the Kurds and although the west did little at the time, it is part of the argument against the current Iraqi regime. Part of the deal struck with Turkey to use military bases there, is reassurance against a successful Kurdish uprising in Turkey. To ensure this the Turks want to follow US forces into ethnically Kurdish Northern Iraq. Any deal, must be to sustain the fragile equilibrium and that includes not buckling to some Turkish demands. If the treatment of Iraqi Kurds is part of a moral argument against Saddam then it would be hypocrisy to betray them. KurdishMedia Reports – latest Reports and opinion regarding Kurdish issues

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Feb 07 2003
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The origin of Jingoism

Posted by | politics | No Comments

We don’t want to fight, But by Jingo if we do, We’ve got the ships, We’ve got the men, And got the money too. We’ve fought the Bear before, And while we’re Britons true, The Russians shall not have Constantinople. By Jingo / We don’t want to fight

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Feb 07 2003
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John Robb’s PacketPC

Posted by | design | No Comments

Jon Robb considers wifi enabled hardrives: “1. Digital still cameras. 2. Digital video cameras. 3. Portable radios. 4. Portable CD players. 5. TiVo (if shipped in combo with a base station that contains a hard drive). 6. Digital audio recorders. 7. Car DVD and tape players (with FM transmission add-ons for the Archos or iPod). In all of those cases, the core element is the portable hard drive. The recording and/or playback feature functionality is merely a dumb peripheral (directly connected or connected via wireless). Add wireless and server capabilities and it can power your PC, your TV, and your stereo. ” John Robb’s Radio Weblog

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Feb 07 2003
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Bill O’Reilly: you’re wrong, I’m right, yah boo sucks

Posted by | politics | No Comments

Tom Tomorrow writes: “I caught a bit of the O’Reilly Factor during dinner last night, during which Bill berated Jeremy Glick, a signatory of the Not in Our Name ad whose father died in the 9/11 attacks… …The last few seconds of that exchange were really something to watch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shouting head actually tell his guest to ‘Shut up! Shut up!’ or to tell his producer to ‘cut his mic.’ “. This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow:O’Reilly factor partial transcript

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Feb 06 2003
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Weblog music publishing

Posted by | metadata | No Comments

It is obvious now that the major record labels are screwed. But what about this from Clay Shirky: “The internet has lowered the threshold of publishing to the point where you no longer need help or permission to distribute your work. What has happened with writing may be possible with music”. What would weblog software geared around musicians having weblogs where they distribute their samples of their music consist of? A weblog posting would have infomation about the song and a link to an MP3. A parallel RSS feed could have metadata about the song and the MP3 could be delivered as an enclosure. RSS aggregators would take advantage of metadata within the music RSS module. Shirky: The Music Business and the Big Flip via Scott Schrantz

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